Here You Can Watch UFC Fight Night Strickland vs. Hernandez 2/21/26 - February 21st 2026 Full Show Online Replay, UFC Fight Night Strickland vs. Hernandez 2/21/26 Full Show Live Online, Stay tuned with us to get more.
UFC Fight Night Strickland vs. Hernandez February 21st 2026 Preview.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contenders Sean Strickland vs. Anthony Hernandez will clash TONIGHT (Sat., Feb. 21, 2026) inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, for UFC Houston. It’s a difficult question to answer until the conclusion of tonight’s main event. The former champion only competed once last year, a one-sided loss to then-kingpin, Dricus du Plessis. Returning to the win column here would push Strickland right back into the limelight as a possible title threat to either Khamzat Chimaev or Nassourdine Imavov, whereas a loss would send him plummeting down the ranks.
Hernandez, meanwhile, rides an eight-fight win streak into his third main event booking. “Fluffy” has been wildly dominant while climbing the Middleweight ladder, making skilled opposition look downright miserable while locked in the cage with him. If he can put Strickland in similar agony, there’s no doubt Hernandez his earned his shot at UFC gold. Strickland’s style is exceptionally annoying to deal with and built off his comfort in exchanges, a trait many mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters (even great ones) lack. He maintains a steady pressure and presence, always staying in his opponent’s face and picking at them with jabs, teeps and counter punches. Historically, he’s quite hard to take down as well, but he hasn’t been tested by anyone quite like Hernandez is many years. Though their strategies differ, this is a collision of men who like to bully and break their opponents. Strickland may not “go to war” as often as he promises in pre-fight talk, but he does poke and prod at his opponents until they’d prefer to be doing just about anything else. Like “Fluffy,” he does his best work on the front foot when dictating the exchanges.
It’s important that he doesn’t back up here and let Hernandez shoot easy takedowns. Instead, I’d like to see Strickland establishing his teep to the belly early given Hernandez’s history of getting hurt by body shots, and that’s just a great anti-wrestler strike regardless. If Strickland can give Hernandez a reason to hesitate on the outside, he can build success and start forcing him to take backwards steps. Hernandez is the meanest mat mauler since Khabib Nurmagomedov. I’m not say he’s as good as “The Eagle” or anything, but there’s a certain cruelty and nastiness in how Hernandez delivers ground strikes while mugging his opposition that puts him in a rarified class of ground fighters. Pretty much everybody and their mother expects the teep to be something of an issue — or at least Strickland’s best path to success — given Hernandez’s history of getting hurt by body shots. Therefore, it feels obvious to say Hernandez should come equipped with tools to answer. For example, I would love to see him looking to parry the kick by, which would allow Hernandez to counter with low kicks, punches, or even a takedown entry.
Generally, I don’t believe Hernandez needs to rush his takedowns. He should be shooting often, but he doesn’t need to be desperate. Hernandez has variety in his kickboxing, good offense from a multitude of ranges. Like du Plessis, he should use his full arsenal to beat up the legs with kicks, match Strickland’s volume in the pocket, and look for clubbing close range blows when in the clinch. Strickland has a habit of going reactive in the face of output, and Hernandez can encourage him into that statement with constant, unpredictable offense. The takedown is still the end goal, but it will come more easily if Strickland is worried about kicks, elbows and punches, too.
Geoff Neal came to UFC by way of Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in summer 2017 and looked like a future title contender early in his Octagon career, turning away Belal Muhammad and laying waste to the likes of Mike Perry and Niko Price. Unfortunately, a well-documented battle with addiction cost him five years of his competitive prime, reflected in his record, as “Handz of Steel” is just 3-5 over his last eight and coming off a brutal knockout loss to Carlos Prates. Neal is a well-rounded fighter with good defensive wrestling and knockout power, though sometimes he struggles to put it all together and seems content to play impatient headhunter. Now touting himself as rebuilt and refocused, we’re going to find out what’s left in the tank at 35, though it’s worth noting his Prates loss was last August — not exactly ancient history.
UFC Fight Night Strickland vs. Hernandez February 21st 2026 Match Card.
Prelims –5.00PM ET
- Welterweight Chidi Njokuani vs. Carlos Leal Miranda
- Flyweight Ode’ Osbourne vs. Alibi Idiris
- Flyweight Alden Coria vs. Luis Gurule
- Women’s Bantamweight Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards
- Welterweight Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Punahele Soriano
- Welterweight Philip Rowe vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani
- Featherweight Jordan Leavitt vs. Yadier del Valle
- Women’s Flyweight Juliana Miller vs. Carli Judice
Maincard – 8.00PM ET
- Middleweight Sean Strickland vs. Anthony Hernandez
- Welterweight Geoff Neal vs. Uroš Medić
- Featherweight Dan Ige vs. Melquizael Costa
- Heavyweight Serghei Spivac vs. Ante Delija
- Welterweight Jacobe Smith vs. Josiah Harrell
- Middleweight Zachary Reese vs. Michel Pereira
EVENT INFO :
- Show
- Location: Toyota Center In Houston, Texas.
